Not applicable.
Not applicable.
Not applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of severing implements in general and in particular to a severing implement having a cutting grasping feature.
2. Description of Related Art
As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,315,762; 5,640,885; 4,707,921; and, 4,018,037, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse long handled implements including pruning shears.
While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and practical severing implement such as a pruning shears construction having cooperating grabbing surfaces that will captively engage the severed portion of a branch or stem.
As most horticulturalists, gardeners, and landscapers are all too well aware, there are many instances wherein the simple severing of a branch or stem is not completely satisfactory and the actual removal and retrieval of the severed portion is not only desirable but also absolutely necessary in order to accomplish their objective.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need among the aforementioned groups of individuals for a new and improved pruning shear construction that simultaneously severs and grasps a branch or stem to allow the severed portion to be retrieved by the user; and the provision of such a construction is a stated objective of the present invention.
Briefly stated, the improvement to severing implements that forms the basis of the present invention comprises in general a pair of shearing blade units pivotally connected to one another in the conventional manner wherein one of the shearing units is provided with a pair of relatively movable cooperating gripping units that will allow the user to captively engage and retrieve the severed portion of a branch or stem.
As will be explained in greater detail further on in the specification, each of the shearing blade units has a handle portion and a blade portion; wherein, the handle portions are pivotally connected to one another and the blade portions are disposed on the handle portions so as to bring the severing blade edges into a slightly offset sliding overlapping relationship relative to one another to cut a branch or stem in a well recognized fashion.
The heart of this invention, however, resides in the provision of a pair of cooperating gripping units on the top surface of one of the blade portions of the shearing units; wherein, one of the cooperating gripping units includes a pusher bar that is aligned with an elongated central aperture in a capture plate that comprises the other cooperating gripping unit.
As the severing blade edges of the shearing blade units come into contact with the opposite sides of a limb or stem that is to be severed, the cooperating gripping units which are disposed on one of the severing blades approach the same sides of the item to be severed above the cut line. Then as the blade edges penetrate the opposite sides of the item, the cooperating gripping units come into progressively increasing frictional engagement such that once the item is severed, the gripping units have captively engaged the base of the severed portion to effect the subsequent removal and retrieval thereof.